Nothing Special
by Pemberly-Awaits-You
Summary: After making a bet with his sister, Jace Herondale have to get a sensible girl who is said to be out of his league to want to be in a relationship with him for one month straight. The girl in question is named Clary Fray. I suck at summaries! It's a no brainer if you want to read it. Just like another teen movie. Human AU. Rated M for Language and future lemons.
1. Treat Them Mean Keep Them Keen

**Chapter 1. Treat Them Mean, Keep Them Keen. **

"Alright ladies! Couple up and do a last round of kick-hits." The voice of the very large female coach seemed to echo over the big football field. The school's female team was out training and had been for the last two hours. Jace was sitting on the bleachers, looking down at the herd of sweaty teenage girls who were at the moment forming into two lines, facing each other. Coach blowed the whistle and Jace raised his eyebrows. This was something he'd never seen before. He tilted his head as he watched how the girl attacked each other, two and two. Basically forming some sort of wrestling line. All that was missing was more or less the oil and these girls would be displaying something which exists in most teenage guy's web browser history.

There wasn't much to complain about with that kind of view. The exercise was one that Jace, himself had never done before but which made him very much want to join one of the grinding pairs. Jace's team always had practice right after the girls so they were several guys hanging out by the side of the field, ogling the moving girls. Jace would've joined them if it wasn't for the fact that they were all staring at the same girl: Isabelle Lightwood. The captain of the football team, prom queen of two years in a row and Jace's adoptive sister. Jace was sitting far up on the bleachers by himself, changing into his trainers and had to fight the urge to not throw one of his shoes in the head of his teammates for staring at his sister as if she was a piece of meat. He knew Isabelle could take care of herself, she never failed to remind him of that whenever he'd try to stand up for her; but it still wasn't very pleasing seeing guys stare at her and basically being able to see them undress her with their eyes.

Jace shook his head and turned his focus back to his trainers which he had abandoned in the middle of the process of tying, thanks to the unwelcomed thoughts about his sister's admirers. He made it through getting both his shoelaces tied before he heard the whistle blow from the field again. He proceeded to get ready for his own training session by placing his sneakers in his bag and bringing out his water bottle. After a couple of moments he heard someone walking up the steps of the bleacher towards him and he didn't have to look up to be able to tell who was the owner of the footsteps coming his way.

"And here I thought your team were playing football, not wrestling." He said with a lazy yet teasing tone.

"It's to make us more tolerant to hits." Isabelle answered. Jace looked up and watched how his sister, glazed with sweat sat down next to him and drank from her bottle. "We're meeting Idris girl team next saturday and they like to play dirty."

"You're supposed to take advantage of that. Overreact and get penalty kicks."

"Lay down and cry because some she-man rams you?" She scoffed. "Please. I'm not a boy." Jace chuckled slightly and Isabelle grinned. "Besides, it would ruin my make up."

"You're such a girl." Jace said shook his head.

"I take that as a compliment." Isabelle replied with a great smile on her lips before bending down to untie her shoes. Jace wrinkled his nose. Isabelle might have been the prom queen and what people would describe as a perfect beauty. But when that girl removed her shoes after two regular hours on the football field, the noses of any innocent bystander suffered.

"Look, all I'm saying is that guys are pigs. You don't have to give them more reasons to see you as piece of meat."

"I know guys are pigs, Jace. I get a first seat example from you all the time." Isabelle said with an annoyingly clear voice. As if she was giving more of a fact than an opinion.

Jace frowned but kept his eyes on the field before him where some of his teammates were all ready in their gear and were messing around with the football between each other. "I'm not like that. I'm not _that guy_." He said defensively which made Isabelle scoff.

"Please. You're the worst kind of _that guy_ there is. I'm pretty sure you hold seminars where you lecture innocent teenage boys about how to behave and turn them into jackasses like you."

"Shut up."

"No, I'm serious. The only reason you think you're better than those guys," Isabelle gestured dramatically towards the guys who had been ogling her earlier and who were now on the field. "is because you're actually getting some. And that has nothing else to do other than your luck with biology. Seriously. If it hadn't been for your looks. You'd be just like those guys down there. Calling themselves good guys whilst undressing a girl with their eyes and dry-humping anything that moves. Just because people think you're hot gives you some sort of get-out of jail card. Fuck. You even did get out of jail once just by fluttering your goddamned eyelashes!" Isabelle said, her factual tone had changed to a far more frustrating one. Her neverending line of princes who turned out to be toads had made her slightly tense about the subjects. Though Jace couldn't really argue on her point. He wasn't a very good guy. He never had been. Ever since he was a kid he had used his charms to get out of trouble or get what he wanted. His seven year old self hadn't had to do much else than look up at the adults with his big, golden eyes, hidden behind a messy blonde fringe, and they would drop whatever anger they had against him and let it be; convincing themselves that he didn't mean anything bad. When he grew up he had exchanged the puppy-dog eyes to mischievous smirk and a smooth tone of voice. Which, without doubt, worked even better than the cuteness factor. Not only would it get him out of trouble but it would in most cases also get him into bed. If the person he had made angry was a candidate of course. The cops incident had been different though and no matter how much Isabelle might want to think he charmed his way out of that situation, he had not. It's not to say that he didn't try. Though unfortunately the 50-something-old woman who arrested him had not liked his suggestive comments about the handcuffs she had put him in. The night had resulted in several bruises and had forced Alec, Isabelle and Jace's older brother, to bail him out before the cops could call their parents.

"I am better than those guys. In more ways than one. I know how to treat a girl right." Jace said, not looking at his sister who was slightly on edge from her mild outburst. "I just choose not to, to keep them on their toes. You know, Treat Them Mean, Keep Them Keen."

Isabelle let out a low, ironic chuckle. "You should get that tattooed on your back." Jace frowned at the image but decided not to comment on how he would totally be able to pull off a tramp stamp. "But I think you're fooling yourself." Isabelle added and Jace's frown grew even deeper.

"What the hell are you on about? I'm irresistable."

"Maybe so," she wrinkled her nose to having to admit that. "But only to some. You have one type, Jace. You only go for girls who wants you. You go for girls who know what they're in for but are hoping for a little bit more. You go for girls who think they can be the one exception who will make you stay with them, but deep down know it's never gonna happen. If you'd try to approach someone who's not just in it for sex and who wouldn't die to be your one special girl, you wouldn't stand a chance." Jace turned his head from the field to his sister who was now sitting criss-cross with her legs on the bench, fully turned towards him.

"You're saying that all smart girls are asexual?" Jace asked with a lift of his eyebrows.

Isabelle sighed. "No. Not everything is about sex, Jace. This is exactly what I mean. You approach girls with one thing in your mind. To get them on their backs. If you would have to goal to actually make a good girl fall for you, you'd have way more of a challenge. I don't even think you'd be able to do it."

"Of course I'd be able to do it. It would be easy."  
"I don't think it would." Isabelle said absentmindedly wither her gaze stuck elsewhere than on her brother, as if her thoughts had traveled to a greater thought which made her drift away from the sibling's current discussion. Jace was about to say something back when she suddenly spoke again. "Actually, _I bet you it wouldn't._"

"What?" Jace said tiredly. Isabelle's eyes turned sharply towards his again, this time with a bit of a glister in her eye.

"I bet you you can't get a sensible girl to stay in a relationship with you for more than one month."

"Are you making a bet with me?" Jace asked. This wasnät the first time Isabelle had made a bet with him and it always ended up with Jace doing something stupid and proving her wrong.

"Yes I am. I bet you: you can't get a good girl to be in a relationship with you for one month straight because of her own will and true feelings towards you."

"I bet you you're wrong." Jace answered, a smirk had stretched on his lips and a slight excitement was in the air. Bets made him feel a sense of ruch. One that he loved. He stretched out his hand for Isabelle to grab and she did so, shaking it hard with and equally mischievous grin on her lips.

"I get to pick the girl though." She said as she let go of his hand.

Jace's smirk fell. "Why would you get to pick the girl?"

"To make sure she's the right kind of girl."

"Fuck it. You'll just pick someone ugly as shit or like a little fourteen year old or something. No way."

Isabelle sighed. "The idea is for her not to fall for you. She'd have to have some sort of self-esteem. It's not as if it matters if she's ugly or not. Just as long as she's a challenge. I actually have someone in mind. And I can just tell you, she is not the type of girl you would go for."

Jace narrowed his eyes. "What's her name?"

"Clary Fray."

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AN:

Hi there. This is my first ever fanfiction and I have no idea how it's gonna be and I am nervous as hell. It's nothing special. Everything concerning the plot is things you've already heard. It's supposed to be like that just so you know. It is very cliche and I'm not even sorry! It's a complete human AU based in New York. Please Review and Rate!

All names and stuff belongs to Cassandra Clare. I will not be writing this for every chapter only here. So you see it? Cassandra Clare. The author. It's her characters. All of them. No matter how much I'd like to claim Jace is mine. He is not. Damn it. Again: Cassandra Clare. 

(Sidenote: When I say football, I mean like soccer. I'm european and got too confused when I had to write soccer...)


	2. The idea of you

**AN**: Alright. Thank you guys so much for the follows/favorites and the comments on the first chapter. It really does put a smile on my face when I read what you have to say when I'm at work slaving away. There's just a couple of things I'd like to say about this chapter. Number one being that this will be the first time I mention Clary and Jace's ages. In this story Clary will be seventeen and Jace will be eighteen. I think this somehow messes up with the age system in high school but I'm just gonna go with it because I'm hardcore like that. Jace is in his last year of school. That's all I know. When you're in your last year in Sweden you're between eighteen and nineteen and I'm gonna be a horrible person and say that's what goes for this story. I apologise for this. The second thing I wanted to say was that this will be the last chapter I put up before getting a beta reader. So after this, no more shitty chapters. *waves hands in air mildly excitedly.* I'll stop bothering you now... K bye.

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**Chapter 2. The idea of you.**

"Dude." Jace turned his focus away from his mildly disgusting looking food to his friend Jordan who was sitting opposite him at the table in the school canteen. Jordan's eyes were set on something behind Jace and his eyes were narrowed. "Ten bucks says I can take the basket shot on Blackthorn."

Jace lazily turned around to look at what Jordan was talking about. By the table behind their own sat a group of cheerleaders. One specifically being Helen Blackthorn, who was leaning forwards, resting both her forearms on the table and exposing her cleavage greatly through the pose. Her focus was turned to her side where one of her team mates, Aline Penhallow, sat. She was a perfect goal for basketing, a sport most teenage guys have ever tried around the world. The idea was to find a small, round object, usually a rolled up piece of paper was good enough, and then you throw it and try to make it go down through a girl's shirt, via her cleavage. After years of practicing the delicate and art filled sport during countless of boring lessons, Jace could easily tell that Helen's boobs were far too big and tilted forward to make way for any piece of rubbish to go down her shirt. Jace sighed and turned back to give Jordan an exhausted look before turning his focus back to his food.

"Ten bucks says you'll miss and she'll slap your brains out." He said.

"Challenge accepted." His friends said and threw the little piece of junk he had been twirling between his fingers. Jace followed the motion quickly as the piece flew through the air. Just as he thought it didn't even come close to slipping into the small space between her breasts but instead just hit her chest and fell down on the table, into her plate of food.

"What the hell, Kyle!" Helen shouted angrily and stood up from her chair. As Jace had predicted she was more than mildly unhappy about unwillingly having been part of the basket game and got up to reach Jordan, who shot up from his own chair and backed away with widened eyes, his hands in the air as if to keep Helen from coming closer.

"I owe you ten bucks!" Jordan almost shouted before turning around and running out of the canteen, Helen hot on his heels and half of the population in the room laughing as they went. Jace just sighed and returned to poke around at his food. Even Kyle should know better than to try anything remotely sexual towards Helen. Even though the game is, from the guys point of view, completely harmless, the girls had a different opinion about it. And Helen was the worst to try to get with. She was a lesbian. Not a trying things out in high school and maybe be up for a golden threesome kind of lesbian but a golden one; one who'd never tried a guy and who never intended to. Jace had known since forever. Not only had Isabelle told him, she knew since Helen was on her team and apparently the girl's football team isn't just sharing thoughts about the defense plan on their trainings, but it was also so obvious. Helen had never looked his way. Not even when Jace had tried to get her attention. If that doesn't scream gay, nothing else would. Then there was that night about six months ago which had just confirmed everything.

Jace had been at a party at one of the cheerleader's house after the group had won some sort of jumping up in the air game. Jace hadn't kept much focus on the details but the house was adult free and the cheerleader had gotten her older brother to buy them booze. There had seemed to be no downside to this matter so obviously Jace and his mates had shown up and gotten straight down shitfaced. After a couple of hours, Helen had approached him and brought him upstairs to one of the empty rooms. Jace couldn't even remember if it had been a bedroom or not but being dragged into a room with a fit girl had made his mind travel somewhere very pleasant. Though, right as he was about to make a move another girl entered the room. A cheerleader whom Jace had seen a couple of times before his trainings. By now he had been alone in a room with two hot girls and was kind of drunk. His blood had naturally begun traveling south and a wide grin had spread on his lips. However, unfortunately, Helen had just rolled her eyes and forced a glass of ice cold water down his throat to sober him up. After making sure he was straight minded enough Helen had made him sit down in a chair and begun explaining their situation to him. Her and Aline's situation. Their situation where they were in a relationship but Aline had not yet come out as gay yet and was scared people would figure it out. It had taken some time for Jace to get why the hell she couldn't just tell her parents and the school about it but apparently she wasn't ready for that. Which was why they needed a favor to ask of him. Helen had been told by Isabelle that despite his arrogant attitude and self centered ways, Jace was a trustworthy guy who could be a perfect candidate for what they needed done. The idea was to make people think Aline and Jace were screwing. So that there was no suspicions of Aline's sexual orientation.

Long story short, Jace now had a fake fuck-buddy and Helen had gotten used to Helen watching his every move. Making sure he won't spill anything about her and Aline's relationship and protecting her insecure girlfriend like a freaking lioness. It had gotten to be quite annoying but Jace wasn't complaining. It actually gave him a bit of a stud mark, having a fuck-buddy. Even if it was a fake one.

Without taking another bite of his lunch he got up and walked out of the canteen. He received a dirty look from the food lady as he threw away a whole plate of uneatable sausage crumble into the trash but ignored her. It was her own fault it got wasted. If she stopped making disgusting food maybe he'd be more resourceful. Thankfully, there was an upside when the canteen failed to feed the students. The school's café located in the intellectual department of campus. A café which served toast, sandwiches, snack bars and drinks. A right down saviour to the school's population and Jace's current set of goal. As he walked through the corridor, he met no one he knew. Or rather, no one who would feel the need to make him stop and talk or join him to get food. Jace was tired and he didn't feel like talking to someone. He just wanted to get a ham and cheese toast and a take away cup of black coffee and sit down by the bleachers of the football field and do nothing.

Walking into the café room, he was met by something that made him stop dead still in the entrance. The room looked like it always did. At his right side was the desk behind which two students were standing, taking orders from whomever wanted to buy something. The café room was run by students and occasionally one or two substitute teachers. Jace, alongside everyone else at school loved having the opportunity to get something to eat or to have a place to sit down between classes. Though he would never understand how the hell these people were willing to stand behind there, for no pay, serving their mates as if they worked there. The space alone was of course very cosy though. The room made no sense. There were stools, couches, benches and chairs, none of which matched the other. Everything was in brown or different shades of red, the colors of the school, and there were pillows everywhere. Literally, everywhere. Jace had never liked the interior much, he enjoyed things neat, but it was highly appreciated by the art and english students who spend most of their time pretending to be productive whilst sipping on a cup of tea. The jocks were barely ever seen in this space for more time than it takes to buy a toast and a sprite and get out again. This wasn't their territory, meaning it made Jace feel slightly uneasy standing looking into something he'd never cared enough to make his. Truth was that if him and his mates were to decide they wanted to own this area of the school, they would. It was nothing anyone questioned. It was quite classical really. The jocks ran the school and the cheerleaders were on their arms. Only difference between this school and any other Glee episode was that the jocks weren't only guys. The girls who played sports were highly respected around the school. Even the guys on Jace's team didn't mess with them. Though, since they spend most hours on the field, they never cared much for this place.

What had made him stop. What had made him change his focus from getting something to eat and then getting straight out of there, was the sight of a small girl. A miniature girl really. She was sitting in the corner on the room, on a soft bench which was placed against the wall. Her legs were drawn up, making her look tiny as hell, and her face was tilted down to something in her lap. Her hair was draped around her, making no part of her face visible, but Jace knew who she was. He had studied her enough in the school catalog to recognize that hair anywhere. Though, he hadn't expected her to be so tiny. Clary Fray; or Clarissa, as it said in the catalog, but Isabelle had ensured him that the name she went by was Clary.

_"Who the hell is that?" He asked. His eyebrows furrowed as he turned his head back to the field, where some of Isabelle's team mates were stretching. Nothing to complain about with that view._

_"Clary Fray-Garroway." Isabelle clarified as if that would clarify anything. It didn't. The name didn't connect to Jace at all. Maybe it would if he was more focused but right in that moment Kaelie a girl who more often than not was trying every possible way to get his attention, was bending over to with her butt directly turned towards where Jace and Isabelle was sitting. It was nothing he hadn't seen before and quite frankly, the thought of the things he could do to that girl in that position, didn't excite him that much anymore. He'd been with Kaelie enough times to not find it very thrilling anymore. That was what he always did. Find a girl, sleep with her once or twice and then dump her. Making sure she wouldn't bother him anymore by treating her like she meant nothing. As they never did._

_"She's your coach's step-daughter." He heard Isabelle say from beside him. Jace turned away from the bend over girl and back at his sister with a frown._

_"Who is." He asked. Completely having lost track of their conversation._

_"Oh for God's sake Jace. Clary!" Isabelle said with a loud, theatrical sigh._

_"She is? I didn't know Luke had children." Jace said._

_"Are you even listening to me? I said step-daugher. He's married to her mum." Isabelle growled with irritation._

_"Alright. What does she look like?" He asked. Suddenly this became a but more real than it had been before. Coach's daughter. That someone who he'd actually get in trouble if he messed with._

_"She's a redhead. Very tiny, like not even 5,1. I've seen her a couple of times on your games. I might have gotten her hight wrong. I've only ever seen her from afar but she's way shorter than coach. Not that it's hard to be. She's cute though. Not hot but maybe if I'd put her in the right dress and a pair of boots." Jace rolled his eyes. Too many girls had fallen victim for Isabelle's makeovers._

_"But you don't know how she is? She could be annoying as fuck."_

_"She could be. She doesn't seem like it."_

_"How do you even know she'll be a challenge? Isn't she supposed to be sophisticated and boring and shit. She might be a slut behind closed doors."_

_"Again, she's coach's daughter. I doubt he raised a slut. He's one of the most down to earth and kind men I've ever met. Some of that has to have rubbed off on Clary."_

_Isabelle was right. Coach Garroway was a great man. He wasn't that old actually. Jace would guess on maybe 34 or 35. Which is quite young if you have a seventeen year old step-daughter, but maybe the mother is older. Luke was more than just a coach around the school. He was a perfect role model for the students. Mainly of course for the two football teams. Not only Jace's but Isabelle's as well. He sometimes would substitute for the girl's coach and they had all grown to love him. He was like everyone's cool uncle. Someone responsible but who still got it when you told him stuff. He had helped Jace through a lot of rough times regarding not only the team but other things as well. Personal things. Luke had known Jace's dad once upon a time. His biological dad. Most of the stories he had heard about the man had come from Luke. He would sometimes just invite him into his office in the library for tea, he was in charge of the library on the side of being the football coach, and just tell Jace stories about the good old days._

_No. Isabelle was right. There's no chance that man could have raised anything else than a great person like himself. Come to think of it, he had actually mentioned his little girl once or twice when they had been talking in his office. Though he had spoken so briefly about it, Jace had never cared enough to elaborated on the subject._

And there she was. Luke's little girl. Jace took one more step inside, deciding that this was as good of a time to approach her as any. He made his way over with confident steps. This was going to be a breeze. He knew how to talk to girls. How to make them fall for him. Isabelle didn't know what she was saying when she thought he wouldn't manage to get a sophisticated girl to like him. He knew what he doing. He reached the small, round table where the girl, Clary, sat and without any sort of hesitation he grabbed a chair and placed next to it, so that he was almost sitting in front of her but more slightly to the side, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

"Hey." He said with a smile plastered on his lips. Clary looked up from her book and met his eyes. Jace was slightly taken aback. He had only seen her on a photo before in the school catalog when Isabelle had pointed her out to make sure he went for the right Clary. Obviously the photo hadn't been very detailed; and it had clearly not done her justice. The eyes that met his were big and framed in a set of long, red eyelashes. And they were green. So green. Not the kind of green that when you look at it in a different light might be mistaken for being slightly blue, but really green. Emerald almost. She had a splash of freckles covering her nose and reaching out over her cheekbones. Her face was rather soft. Not edgy and defined the way Isabelle's was and the way Jace knew his own was. Isabelle hadn't been lying when she had told him that she was cute. Cute would definitely be a word to describe the girl sitting before him right then. The girl who was looking up at him with very confused eyes.

"Hello? Can I help you?" She asked. Jace's smile flattered slightly. Suddenly he felt a bit disconnected to what he was supposed to do. Though, when she raised her eyebrows in question his mind snapped back into the game.

"You're Clary Fray." He stated, ignoring her question.

Clary nodded slowly. "Can I help you?" She repeated. Jace shook his head almost with exaggeration.

"Nope. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Jace." He grinned at her. The grin. The slight lift of the right side of the mouth and a narrowed flash of teeth. It always made girls quiver. He knew this from years of practicing that grin. The lads called it the panty-dropping-smile. An accurate name. Although apparently not in this situation. Clary tensed up a bit but then let out a small sigh which was probably supposed to have gone unnoticed, but Jace saw it. She turned back to what was in her lap.

"Is there a reason to why you came over to talk to me? And no I am not going to do do your english homework. Or your math homework. Or any of your homeworks." She said with a rather monotone voice. Jace was slightly taken aback. The girl had attitude, spunk. No one had really ever talked like that to him before. Well, apart from his sister. Hell, a threatening thought went through his mind. What if she's like my sister. Thankfully, Clary looked up at him again and Jace's worries were washed away. Her eyes weren't sterned or annoyed. She just looked.. tired. Not like Isabelle would ever do. Thank God.

"I wasn't gonna ask that." He said.

"Then what was it?" She asked, her eyes now not moving away from his even for a second. It made Jace slightly uneasy but unable to turn away.

"I told you. I wanted to introduce myself." He didn't let his confidence be beaten down by her way of receiving him. She just looked at him for a couple of seconds with a crease between her eyebrows, as if she was studying him. "Hi." She suddenly said. Catching Jace off guard with her sudden word.

"Hello." He said, almost as a stutter. Clary didn't say anything else but only let her legs drop to the ground and turned her focus back to her previous occupation.

"So how are you doing? I can see you're drawing. You're in the arts program?" He asked, having noticed that the item in her lap was a sketchpad and in her hand she was holding a pen. Clary didn't seem to like the fact that he pointed it out because her body shifted slightly so that the pad was turned more away from him. Though her posture was still relaxed.

"I am." She said as a matter of fact. Not being rude but not really inviting into anymore conversation. Jace shifted a little in his seat, tilting his head and trying to eye contact with her again.

"Are you any good?"

"Depends on the exportation." She answered, her eyes still stuck on the piece of paper in her lap. Jace waited for a moment in silence. Waited for her to say something more. To elaborate on the subject of her art like most people did when asked about their passion. But nothing came.

"Can I see?" He finally asked. Her silence and uninviting nature was making him uneasy. It wasn't even that she was being introverted. She just didn't seem to want to talk to him in particular and it made him highly uncomfortable. How was he supposed to get her into a relationship with him if he couldn't even get her to talk to him?

"No." She said shortly and Jace couldn't help but let out a mild sigh.

"You don't like me very much, do you?" he asked and bit his lip lightly.

"I don't like the idea of you," she said quietly. Her eyes lifted and were looking straight into his. He was taken slightly aback by the intensity of her stare, although, she didn't seem bothered at all. Of course she didn't. Why would she be bothered by her own eyes. That made no sense. With a small quiver of a smile, and to Jace's relief and disappointment, she turned back to the sketchpad in her lap. She was sending clear messages for him to leave her alone but Jace wouldn't give up so easily. He couldn't give up so easily.

"The idea of me? What does that mean?"

She sighed, flipped a page over so to close the sketchpad and looked up at him as if in retreat. He couldn't help the grin that spread over his lips. It was just impossible for girls to ignore him.

"It means that I don't know you. I can't say I don't like you because I don't even know what it would be about you that I disliked. But I don't like the idea of you. I don't like what I've heard and I don't like what I see. I don't like the whole idea of Jace Herondale. The star soccer player who gets all the girls and gets invited to all the parties. The one who doesn't have to worry about anyone's feelings or regards when he speaks to them. The way you move in the hallways as if you own it. I don't like it. Then again I don't know you so I cannot say that I don't like you. But I don't have any desires to get to know you either. So thank you for stopping by, but for whatever reason you are here. I am sorry but I can't help you."

Jace blinked and frowned at her. "Wait. You don't like what you see? Darling, everybody likes what they see." He had hoped to get a smile out of that comment but Clary just sighed and looked away from him.

"That's exactly what I mean." She said and reached for her coffee mug. Jace watched as she moved the cup to her lips to finish off her drink. As she set it down again, a white line of milk foam had formed on her upper lip. Jace tried not to smile at the look of her with a milk mustache but failed. Though the cuteness disappeared when she wiped it off quickly and bend down to reach for her bag which Jace hadn't noticed was placed by her feet. Slightly stunned by the fact that she was so clearly leaving, Jace didn't manage to find it in him to move. He just sat there as she stood up and clenched her sketchpad to her chest.

"Good meeting you, Herondale." She said and gave him a tense smile before turning around and walked away and out of the café room. Giving a nod to the students who were standing behind the desk. The students looked curiously after her as she went, then they looked at Jace before turning to whisper something to each other. Jace would have bothered with it if it wasn't for the fact that he was equally as stunned as they were. He sat back, slumping in his chair, still with his eyes stick on the door which Clary had just walked through. Hell, this was going to be hard. He had no plan to how he would charm this girl. And it didn't help that her distracting, green eyes were now completely imprinted in his mind.

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Please Review. It makes me happy when you review.


	3. Mocca Latte with a double expresso shot

**Chapter 3. - Mocca Latte with a double espresso shot**

"Either the school system enlighten their powers from sucking the lives out of the students attending this hell hole, or Mr. Starkweather has officially lost his mind." Clary peaked out her head from her locker to find a dorky-looking skinny boy with glasses and dark curly hair leaning against the locker next to hers and staring into nothing. A small grin spread on her lips at the sight of her best friend Simon Lewis.

"It wasn't official before?" She asked and returned to getting her sketchbook, pens and other supplies in preparation for her next hour of art class.

"Well... no. Everybody knows he's koko but it's never actually been said before." Simon turned his head towards her. "People need to know what they're getting themselves into when they apply for the english line at this school. We need to make the poor innocent baby faces aware. I'm thinking posters. Like 'lost dog' posters but with Mr. Starkweather on them instead. 'Have you seen this dement old man? If you have, please return him to his office by the English department. Please speak gently with him. He gets very easily confused."

He said the last with such a hopeless and gentle tone that it startled a laugh out of Clary.

"Oh God, I love it! You should totally do that."

"I'll put Luke's number up as the contact person." He said cheekily.

"Why this sudden interest in Mr. Starkweather's mental stability?" Clary asked and shut her locker. Simon begun walking next to her, not having to ask which lesson was her next since he had her schedule memorised. Just as she had his.

"He's expecting us to write two mini essays for this thursday and a short story to compliment a third big essay which is gonna be handed next friday." He sighed. "Don't choose the english line, Clary. Just don't do it."  
"I wasn't planning on switching to be honest." Clary said with a smile stretched on her lips. Alicante School of gifted youth, a name which made the majority of the students attending it cringe whenever they heard it, was a rather special school. To get in it wasn't enough to just live in the area and have it as the most convenient placement to proceed with your educational career. You had to have a talent. The school was divided into different lines. You had the English line, which Simon was a part of, the line which is known for their hard work and strict teachers. You had the Athletic line with focus on basketball and football where the students spend half of their days doing normal classes and half of the training, making themselves ripped. Then you had the Science line, the Economy line, The Music line; and of course the Art line.

"Good. Don't! Not that you getting out of the loony bin called art class isn't good but I mean… English." He shuddered at the word and Clary gave him a light punch on the arm but the smile was still on her lips. The art program might be, what some people would say, clogged with odd people. Everyone wore strange looking, loose pants and shirts and they were all always covered in paint or had black fingers from working with pencils. Clary might not go all in for the art fashion but rather kept herself to plain jeans and s-shirts which she never cared enough about if they would get ruined, but she loved it. Art had been around her for her entire life and now she got to surround herself with it even during school hours. She had been so thrilled when her mother had announced that she had managed to get Clary into the school. Due to the high standards of the students and the quality of the education, the fee paid every year was more than the Fray family could afford. Though after years of working full time and selling her art on the side, Clary's mother had proudly announced that Clary would get to attend it.

"Say whatever you want about my line, at least we don't have dement teachers." She said to Simon cheerfully.

"True that. You're mad enough as it is. You can't have too many crazy people covering one line I suppose."

"Watch it Lewis!" Clary warned.

"Fine. But you can't deny that ninety percent of the people on your line are koko."

"As long as you can admit that ninety-eight percent of the people on yours are stuck up know-it-alls." Right Clary finished her sentence a high pitched squeal pierced through the already loud hallway. The two friends turned their focus towards the sound.

".. and airheads with rich daddies who can force them into this place." Clary finished. The sound had been made by none other than Kaelie Whitewillow, a blonde cheerleader girl from Simon's class. Whatever it had been which has caused her to let out such a squeal, it was clearly something good. She was standing by her locker literally jumping up and down with another cheerleader who Clary didn't know the name of.

"Whatever are you talking about? Kaelie is by far the smartest in our class." Simon said. Just as they passed the jumping girls he leaned closer to Clary and spoke with a lowered voice.

"I hear she can count all the way up to twelve now."

His comment made Clary laugh but she quickly raised her hand to cover the sound of it, in case her walking past Kaelie giggling would be too obvious. Simon never failed to make her laugh. That was the number one thing she truly loved him for. That and the fact that they had known each other for such a long time. Her love for her skinny, dark-haired, jewish friend had become more for a habit than a choice. Not that she wouldn't have loved him if she were to have met him now but having known each other for over ten years made their relationship very lazy and through that: perfect. She never had to care about looking good or saying the right thing when she was with Simon. There had been a time when their feelings for each other had been confusing; for one party more than the other if she were to be completely honest. However that stage had ended just as quickly as it begun. It had been during the autumn break the year before. Simon had been raising his complains about how no girl seem to find him sexually appealing and how he was more likely to 'score' with one of his mother's 40 years old, middle aged-crises friends than a girl his own age. Clary had told him how stupid he had been sounding, more so that he usually did at least. She told him how he would definitely find a girl who would laugh at his bad jokes, who made him laugh in return and who was totally age appropriate. After a while Simon had pointed out that the girl Clary was speaking about was in fact herself. That she fitted in perfectly to all given categories. At the end of the night he had asked her if she wanted to try the whole dating thing and due to being drunk on Ben & Jerrys and energy drinks -at least that is what she today balmes it at- she had said yes. The relationship hadn't even lasted the entire break. In fact, it was over after the first 'date'. Simon might have been her first kiss, but it was also, by far her worst one. She didn't even have anything to compare it to yet she already knew it must be the worst one she will ever experience. It had been awkward, uncoordinated and unnatural. Everything had felt wrong about it. Almost like kissing a cousin, or a brother or just someone who fit into the 'related' category. After the dating fiasko the two had decided never to speak about it ever again. A rule Simon often breaks to make himself sound like less of a virgin if that's even possible. Needless to say, the boy was her best friend and their status should've stayed like that. Nothing more nothing less.

"There's a note on your door." Simon said as they approached Clary's art classroom. They walked up to the door and read what was on the piece of paper.

_Due to Mrs. Smith's absence, Art has been cancelled, though it can never truly be. _

"Wow. Even your notes sound like complete nut-jobs." Simon said in a dreamy tone after he had read the note. This time Clary couldn't do more than agree. This note was an excellent example on the minds of the art people.

"Oh well." She said and turned around. "I'm gonna go to the library."

"You got to be the lamest teenager in history of time." Simon said and begun walking towards her destination with her. "You get time off from class and you're gonna spend it in the library?"

"It's quiet. And I have a book I want to borrow."

"Nerd."

Clary chuckled. "Says the one with a dungeons and dragons t-shirt. Don't you have a class now by the way?"

Simon shook his head. "Nope. As previously discussed, Mr. Starkweather is feeling a bit under the weather…" He chuckled at his own word pun. "And he barely ever takes attendance anymore. He won't notice if I'm not there."

"He might. He's not as off as you make him out to be."

Simon looked down at her with raised eyebrows. "Lost-dog posters. Remember, Fray?" Clary just shook her head and chuckled, not arguing with him any further on the point. If he wanted to get into detention she wasn't gonna stop him.

The two of them walked into the library together and Clary went straight for the drama section she had been aiming for. It was a tuesday so Luke wouldn't be in the school. That lucky man had tuesday's off so Clary didn't bother going to his office to say hi. She just dragged Simon with her to the bookshelf and picked out her book and then sat down in one of the many small sofas in the room. Simon had engaged a new conversation about the new bassist in his band who apparently sucked. His band sucked all together to be honest but Clary never really told him that. It was a dream of his to transfer from the English line to the music line and Clary actually though there was a possibility for him to do so. He just needed to drop his horribly untalented band members and go solo and then he would definitely stand a chance. She half-listened to him complain about his life at the same time as she buried her nose in the book in she had picked out. It was supposed to be an international bestseller from Europe. Luke had told her to read it before she saw the movie adaptation which had been made. Apparently the book was supposed to be a lot better than the movie. No surprise there. Clary was one chapter into _The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo_ when she heard something, or someone, which made her heart drop.

"Oh shot!" Clary sunk down quickly in the sofa, shielding herself beside Simon, not that his skinny profile was much to hide behind.

"Clary what are you-"

"Shh." Clary hissed. Simon looked down at her with wide eyes. She gave him a shot of a glare before closing her eyes. As if the motion of her not seeing anything would make herself more invincible. She heard his voice come closer. He was talking to his friend, sounding more arrogant than ever; or maybe that's just the way she hears his voice. The more it approached the quicker Clary's heart sped up. She didn't want him to talk to her again. When she had left the café room after their conversation yesterday she had had millions of questions in her head. Like why would be ever approach her. He was Jace Herondale. Neither he, nor any of his siblings had ever as much as looked at her twice. He was one of her step-father's closest students and yet he had never, during the two years they had been in the same school, even bothered to recognise her face. She had of course attended almost all of his games since her step-father Luke had asked her to, but he had never seen her. She always sat on the same spot on the bleachers but he had never even looked further up than the cheerleading team. Clary couldn't for the life of her understand why he had suddenly approached her as if they were friends. She didn't want a person like him in her life. She didn't want to be apart of that lifestyle. The style where you had to hang out with the right people, wear the right brands and speak the right language. She just didn't like the idea of all that. She just didn't like the idea of him. She thought she had made that very clear during their conversation but somehow when she had left it had just not felt like a finish. It had felt more like the beginning of something. The beginning of something huge. Something she wouldn't want to be apart of.

And now he was going to see her. And surely he would talk to her. Whatever his plan was, for whatever reason he had had to speak with her the day before, she didn't want it to happen. He was coming closer. Closer. And then… he walked past. She could hear how his voice, filled with laughter and confidence, grew weaker as he walked further away. A door opened and the voice disappeared entirely, leaving Clary and Simon completely alone in a quiet library.

"Clary…?" Simon said slowly. Without moving, Clary pressed her eyelids tighter together, realising how stupid she must me looking in this very moment. She felt the familiar feeling of a blush grow from her chest and up to her neck. Slowly she opened her eyes, one at the time, and the looked up. Only to meet the eyes of a very confused and slightly alarmed Simon Lewis. Even slower than she had looked up, she started to move again, sitting up on her own enough so that she was not pressing into Simon's chest anymore.

"Is there a reason to why you were hiding from those guys or are you just playing a weird, one sided game of hide and seek?" Simon asked and Clary felt the heat spreading on her face.

"Not all guys just one." She said with a low voice, clearly embarrassed to talk about her reaction.  
"Who?"

"It doesn't matter." She opened her book again and looked down into it, hoping Simon would drop it. Of course he didn't.

"Who?"

"Jace Herondale." She said quietly, yet loud enough for Simon to hear.

"Why would Jace Herondale be talking to you?" Simon asked, his voice filled with confusion. Clary swallowed against the great lump which was forming in her throat. It was stupid. So stupid. For her to think that Jace would have wanted anything more from her than just that conversation. To think he would try to talk to her again after her being so rude the first time. She was so stupid. He had probably not wanted to speak with her to begin with. She had sensed that there was a reason behind him approaching her. She should've figured it out. God, she was so stupid.

"I don't know. He just did, once. I overreacted. Let's just drop it, okay?" She said shortly and dove her nose further into the book. Hoping Simon wouldn't notice the shake of her voice. She wasn't sad that Jace Herondale hadn't acted like she existed. She was used to that. She wanted it like that. She was just so embarrassed about having though he would. How full of herself did she have to be to think _he_ would think of her. She bit into her lip hard, a habit she had when she was mad at herself. She had done it ever since she was little. Thankfully, Simon didn't bring the happening up again and after some struggling times, she was able to lose herself in her book.

The rest of the day went on without Clary having to suffer through any other major embarrassments; something which appeared to be very rare for her. Although, maybe karma decided that once was enough for today and was going to let her take the rest of the day off. Or week. She prefered the later. When in math class, which she unfortunately had to take despite her being in the Art line due to the rules of the country, she gotten a text from Simon. Apparently his afternoon class hadn't been cancelled just like she had thought and he was not in detention for skipping. The text had made her smile down at her phone, making her teacher see it and confiscating it for the rest of the day. Sometimes she loved her school. Sometimes she very much didn't. The news of Simon having to spend his whole afternoon in detention wasn't too much of a downer for her though. Her plan was to go have a coffee and continue to read her borrowed book. After her math lesson she quickly gathered her things and put them in her bag before finally grabbing her book and clutching it to her chest, and then made her way out of the school.

"Hey!" The call made in Clary's direction made her turn her head quickly towards the voice. When she saw who the owner of the voice was she proceeded to do nothing other than just continuing walking. Jace Herondale had been looking straight at her but she had probably seen that wrong. Or he was after someone else on who was walking close to her. The school day was over for most students so the entrance area was packed with both interns and seniors. Clary shook the whole happening off and begun walking a little faster. Just the thought of Jace Herondale and the humiliating situation she had found herself in earlier that day made her desire for coffee stronger than ever. If she ever saw that blond headed jock again it would be too soon, since even the mere thought of the happening made her blush and want to hide in her room or escape to a deserted island. A deserted island with wifi though. She clutched her book closer to her chest and took a turn off the main road to the central part of the city. Not many people knew of Java Jones coffee shop since it was so off the map, the easiest way to get to it was to take the shortcut Clary was currently walking on. A small little road which fit no cars and had no pavement. Clay liked that. The spooky sense you got from the small wood patches that surrounded it made people dislike it and therefor she loved it. No people was the best kind of people. The only person she ever walked with there was Simon, and she wouldn't want to change the anytime soon.

"Hey." The voice rang again and Clary's heart dropped. She closed her eyes, thinking she had just imagined it. Maybe she was going mad. But sure enough…

"Hey, Clary. Wait up." This time Clary couldn't ignore it. His voice was right behind her and no one else was around. She stopped walking and slowly turned around. Sure enough, there he was. Walking towards her, wearing a pair of black jeans and a white, sleeveless t-shirt with a grey lion on and with a grin plastered on his face, was Jace. Clary sighed and shifted on her feet as he caught up with her.

"Hey." He said again as he reached her.

Clary just looked at him in wait for him to continue but realised that he expected to say something back first. "Hello." She said, making it sound like a question. Whatever it was he was planning on letting her know he better do it quick. Her cheeks grew more and more red by the second he was there and because of it a shot of irritation bubbles up inside of her. Jace shoved his hands in his pockets, his grin flattering a little. Maybe he could tell how uncomfortable she was around him.

"What's up?" He finally asked. Clary frowned. What the hell of a kind of question was that?

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"What is up." He clarified. The smirk returned slightly to his lips but it wasn't the same as before. Now he looked more as if he found her not understanding him amusing. The notion made Clary frown even deeper.

"Did you follow me into this trail- a good long way into it- just to ask me 'what's up'?"

"Yes." Jace smiled at her proudly. Like a little boy who had cleaned his room without his mother asking him to do so. Clary sighed and without answering the question she just started walking again; quickly. But her small legs was nothing Jace's long ones couldn't catch up with.

"Look I just haven't seen you all day. I haven't talked to you."

"As opposed to every other day where we speak so regularly."

"Well, we're friends now. Friends talk."

"Friends? We're not friends Jace."

"I think we are."

"Well, then you and I don't have the same view of friendship. Amongst several other topics."

"Okay fine. But maybe I want us to be friends."

"Why?" Clary stopped walking again. She didn't understand him for one bit but It was clear that he wouldn't stop following her and she didn't want to lead him into the coffee shop. Java Jones was her sacred place. Her coffee smelling nirvana. For two years it had been the one place around town where she could almost be guaranteed she would meet no air-headed jocks. She didn't want to change that fact today by leading Jace straight to it.

"Do I have to have a reason to why I want to be friends with you?" Jace said, he didn't noticed that Clary had stopped walking until he was a good couple of meters away from her. He turned around and looked at her slightly confused, his eyes rather wide and his eyebrows raised. "Why are we stopping?"

If it hadn't been for the annoying feeling of embarrassment in the pit of her stomach, Clary would have definitely reacted more to the fact that Jace looked amazingly adorable when he was genuinely confused. "I'm not quite sure why you are exiting your bubble of fame to approach us mortals but could you just… Not." She said abruptly. A grin spread on Jace's lips and Clary immediately realised he took her metaphorical sentence the wrong way.

"Are you telling me I'm a God?"

Another sigh escaped her lips and her posture slumped slightly, as if being around the boy physically exhausted her. Which it kind of did.

"Okay, sorry. Right, I'm sorry." Jace said quickly and took a few steps towards her, though leaving a bit of space between them as if to not invade her personal bubble. Clary looked up at him and saw a troubled face. He actually seemed uneasy around her too. Which only made her even less understanding to why he was approaching her like this.

"Don't apologise." She said tiredly.

"Okay I won't. I'm gonna buy you a coffee instead."

"I really don't want you to buy me anything."

"Come on. I'm a gentleman."

"Good for you. But that doesn't change anything."

"Fine. I'll go with you and watch as you buy yourself a coffee" He said, now sounding a bit annoyed himself. Clary couldn't for the life in her understand why Jace was being so eager to join her but the thought of skipping her well deserved cup of Mocca Latte with a double espresso shot, just wasn't very appealing. She frowned and tried to come up with some sort of solution to get rid of him but found nothing.

"Fine. If you have nothing better to do with your time."

Jace's face crack up in a big grin and Clary had to force herself to look away. Damn, why the hell did he have to be so cute looking?

"Great. Where are we going?" Jace asked and took a few step further down the path without turning away from Clary. His hands were still in his pockets and Clary couldn't but notice how relaxed he was in his posture. He moved with attitude and grace, as if it didn't matter what was in his way because it would move to make way for him no matter where he walked. She felt a sudden urge to push him over. To see if he would fall ungracefully or if he was like those protagonists in most manga series where the they would stumble but instead of falling flat on their arses they would backflip and land on their feet. Jace seemed like someone who would do that. Do a backflip and then run his hand through his hair in case of any damage. Not that Jace's blonde, messy hair could look anything other than gorgeous. Clary suddenly caught herself with her own thoughts and quickly looked away from the boy in front of her. She let her eyes fall to the ground as a deep blush spread on her face.

"Java Jones. We're- I'm going to Java Jones. It's a smaller café. Just over there." She pointed quickly and Jace finally turned away from her and looked in the direction she had been motioning. Sure enough, there was a real road which cut of the path they were walking on. On the other side of the road was a street. Clary watched how Jace furrowed his eyebrows, trying to see what she was talking about. The café wasn't big. It had been crammed in between a clothing store and a flower store and could barely be seen from the distance they were at. Clary smiled despite herself by the view of Jace searching. She sped up her steps slightly and walked across the road, Jace hot on her heels, and aimed for the café building. She heard Jace let out a small "Oh" of realisation as she put her hand on the door and pushed it open.

The warm coffee-smelling air hit the two right as they walked inside and Clary had to fight the urge not to stand still for a moment to just breath in the piece. This was where she belonged. Just as the outside, Java Jones wasn't big inside either. It only had six tables and a couple of bar stools by the window. Everything was brown and dark and cosy. The walls were covered in paintings, though a few patches of green wallpaper could be seen between them. The bar wasn't very big either. It barely held the scones and buns they sold and everything else was crammed into the counter on the other side, closing the barista into a corner of coffee and bun-goodness.

"This is nice." Clary heard Jace say from behind her, reminding her of his presence. She swallowed against another lump forming in her throat; the second one that day, both caused by the boy behind her. She had done just what she hadn't wanted. She had lead him to her sacred place. Willingly. Suddenly the surrounding she was in wasn't as comforting anymore. She frowned and walked over to the barista, without as much as looking back at Jace but still knowing that he was right behind her. It was as if she could feel him standing next to her. It was creepy. It made her spine cold and her stomach flutter uncomfortably.

"One Mocca Latte with a double espresso coming up." The barista said before Clary had even opened her mouth. A smile spread on her lips as well as on the girl who stood behind the counter. She had been here enough times for the staff to know exactly how she took her coffee. Another reason to why she loved Java Jones as much as she did. Although, the barista's eyes shifted to something else, or rather someone else, and suddenly Clary was no longer the important customer.

"And what will you have?" The barista said with a voice Clary had never hear her use before. A husky voice. She was looking at Jace with crinkled eyes and with a smile on her lips. Clary sighed irritatedly and looked at him as well. Was this how it was going to be now? Not even her favorite coffee place was holy ground and not even her favorite barista was immune to the influence Jace's appearance had on lady parts. It was just a matter of time before jocks would infiltrate this café and ruin it all. And she had herself to blame for letting Jace follow her here. Although, as she looked up at the boy behind her, she wasn't met with a cocky grin aimed at the girl behind the desk. Jace was looking down at her. She noticed his jaw was slightly tensed. As if he was concentrating on something. After a second of silence he cleared his throat lightly and muttered: "I'll have what she's having."

The barista, clearly disappointed with Jace's reaction, turned immediately and begun making their drinks. Clary didn't really know what to say now when she had ordered so instead of engaging any conversations she just watched as the barista worked. She wasn't quite sure what to do now. She thought of how Jace hadn't asked for a to-go cup, meaning he would sit in the café just like her. The idea made her uncomfortable. Would he expect her to talk to him? Would he want to sit next to her? Or was he going to sit by his own table alone whilst she was reading? She really didn't like any of the options she could come up with as an outcome of this situation. Jace's silence behind her didn't help either. The barista finished up quickly and Clary went to pay for her drink before Jace could as much as give a second thought about paying for her. She could feel how he moved behind her. Again, something which made her very uncomfortable. You're not supposed to be able to feel people behind you. That's just odd. She tried to shake the weird feeling by taking a sip or her coffee. It was a bit too hot to drink yet but oh so good. She briefly closed her eyes to enjoy the flavour whilst she heard the sound of Jace paying for his coffee.

"Oh, look. Winterfell." Jace said suddenly, making Clary open her eyes again. He pointed with the hand that held his cup towards one of the paintings by the wall. Clary looked at it. She had seen it many times before. It was a painting of a flag with a grey wolf on.

"What's that?" She asked with a frown surprised that he acknowledged it.

"Winterfell. You know. Winter is coming. The Starks. It's their flag." She turned back to Jace who was looking down at her. She must have looked just as lost as she was feeling because a realisation spread on his face.

"You've never seen Game of Thrones?" He asked. Clary had heard of it before. It was a book series turned into a tv-show. Apparently it was a hit but Clary's mum hadn't wanted her to watch it because of all of the violence and nudity. She just shrugged at Jace's statement, not knowing what to say. Instead she looked around for a place to sit.

"Fuck me…" Jace said, almost as a breath. Clary's eyes widened slightly at his wording but didn't let it get to her. It wasn't as if she hadn't heard someone say the word fuck before. Just… maybe not in that context of a sentence.

"You have to watch it." Jace continued. "_We_ have to watch it. Come on, let me show you! You'll love it."

"I thought you were just gonna watch me buy a coffee and then leave." She said with a sigh, though a slight sense of amusement lingered in her chest.

"And I did. But come on. I promise you'll love it!"  
The amusement fell by his words and Clary sighed again and begun making her way to one of the empty tables in the corner of the café. "You don't know me, Jace."

Just as she said it she could hear him sigh heavily behind her. "Are we back to that again? Come on! I just want to be the one who shows it to you. Please." She sat down on a chair and looked at him. His eyebrows were crinkled and it really did look as if he was pleading. Clary raised her mug to her lips to cover the smile his face brought to her lips. Although, unfortunately he noticed it and saw her expression as a confirmation.

"Great! I'll go get my laptop."

Clary's smile fell and her eyes widened. "What? How are you gonna do that?"

Now Jace frowned. He raised a hand to point his thumb over his shoulder. "My car. I'll go home." Clary opened her mouth to protest but Jace foresaw it and placed his mug on the table and started backing away from her. "It will only take, like, ten minutes. Twenty max."

Clary wanted to say no. To tell him not to go through that kind of trouble just to introduce her to a new tv-show, but she somehow just couldn't find the words.

Jace smiled. "Wait here. Don't go anywhere!" He said and she watched him as he walked hastily out the door and disappeared.

He didn't have to worry. She wasn't going to go anywhere. She wasn't going to let him go back and forth to him home, wherever that was, just to find her gone when he came back. Of course, she could have never known just how much she would soon regret the decision of giving this boy a chance.

* * *

_AN: (I just want to start this off by thanking you for having gotten this far. According to the stats not many who reads chapter 1 made it to chapter 2. Thank you so much for wanting to keep reading!)_

_Oh, look. An update. I got a question before how often I update and I might disappoint someone with this: I won't have a schedule on when I update. It just kind of comes whenever. Writing for me is a part of my therapy plan (which sounds a lot more dramatic than it is but whatever) and I cannot force it. If I start writing because I feel like I have to instead of because I want to, it will ruin its purpose and I might stop entirely. In other news, I have a tumblr. Might not be much of a surprise, but on that tumblr I will be posting updates. Things like current situations, my progress and sometimes snippets from the upcoming chapters. My url is jarvis-of-sir-mckellen. Please Review. It makes me happy when you do! _

_Until next time! _


	4. Although Clary doesn't

**Chapter 4. - Although... Clary doesn't.**

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Silence. It's an odd thing. It can make you think. It can make your thoughts go deeper to places where you weren't aware they could focus. They can make you hear clearly, or they can make you shut off. They can make impressions and they can change you as a person. Silence appears to be a luxurious rarity which you're only blessed with on the most peculiar days… especially when you live under the same roof as Isabelle fucking Lightwood who has a tendency to scream at any given reason.

Though today for some reason, the house was in complete dead silence when Jace opened in eyes in the morning. Practically rolling out of his bed, he got up and grabbed the nearest t-shirt and jeans and put them on. His hair stood in every direction on the map but he just couldn't be bothered to actually have a shower. He was going to shower after the day's practice anyway so the idea of getting cleaned up just to get dirty and smelly again after two hours seemed rather pointless. It wasn't as if anyone have ever really complained before. The girls seemed to appreciate the careless attitude and style. They liked the bed hair and the carelessly chosen outfits he wore. They liked how he didn't have to try to look great. How he never seemed to have to try very hard to be how he was and look how he did. But in turn they tried really hard. They spend hours in front of mirrors and in bathrooms just to be noticed by him and people like him. People have a tendency to believe that guys aren't aware of how much time girls spend to look good for them. Though Jace knew. He knew exactly how much they cared and how much they tried. If not from how girls acted towards him then from the front seat he got each time Isabelle had a date. The amount of time she would spend in the family's grand bathroom was unbelievable. Jace would never underestimate his on-suite bathroom in those moments. He couldn't find it in him to care enough. And girls seemed to just care too much.

_Although… Clary doesn't._ Jace suddenly stopped with his foot halfway out his door. Clary. The short redhead had been the last thing on his mind the night before due to the second part of their "first date". Never before had Jace actually fallen asleep thinking of a girl. Or well… On one or two occasions had he been in bed late at night thinking of girls. Though then sleeping wasn't really the goal in mind. Their time in the café had left Jace slightly uneasy and as they had gone separate paths he had had a very hard time getting the girl out of his head. It wasn't that she had been too weird for him to understand or even be around, it had been that she hadn't been. Knowing Clary was an art student and having her react to him the way she had the first time they met, Jace would have assumed that she would be different. Not bad; just different. He hadn't expected her to be as… cool as she was. She wasn't just cool in what she liked and how she spoke about it, but her entire being was just… cool; cold. Sitting next to him, alone in a coffee shop hadn't even seemed to face her. He had come back with his laptop in hand, twenty minutes after he had left to get it in the first place; and it appeared as if something had changed since he had left her hanging. The moment she had spotted him walking towards her he could visibly see the disappointment in her eyes. She had been sitting the same way as she had when he had first seen her, with her legs drawn up and her hair around her face, but instead of her drawing pad she had had a book in her lap. One that she seemed very saddened to have to put aside when he approached. He had apologized for taking so much time but she hadn't said much in return. She had just itched to the side, away from him, as he sat down next to her and placed his laptop on the table before them. Her coffee mug was gone but his was still standing on the table. Jace had grabbed it, surprised to feel it still rather warm, and took a sip from it. It had tasted… odd. He couldn't even remember what the order had actually been. Mocca something coffee. Whatever Clary had said. It was chocolaty but still tasted a look like coffee. He had set down the mug again and noticed how Clary was studying him. As if judging his reaction on the flavor. Though, since she made no comment on it, Jace didn't either but instead just opened his macbook and put on the first episode of game of thrones. As they had watched it, Clary's attitude had changed. She went from closed off by him, to completely taken by the story before her. Her eyes had gotten wide and she had stared at the screen with such an interest that it had almost made it impossible for Jace not to smile and just look at her instead of the episode. He had never seen someone so captivated by a simple tv-show before. Jace hadn't felt the need to talk to her through the episode but if he would have he was certain she wouldn't have heard him. She had been far too taken by the story. After a while of captivatingly watching the show, the little redhead had relaxed next to him and even moved a bit closer. It had probably been an unknowingly motion but it had made Jace pleased anyhow. She was warming up to him. Or maybe she was just on her way to maybe not flinch every time she saw his face. Either one Jace saw it as progress.

Throughout the episode, Clary had gotten more and more relaxed and when it was done she had turned towards him with big eyes and asked him to put on another one. Jace had just laughed and told her that unfortunately he had somewhere he had to be and he had closed his computer, trying hard not to be moved by Clary's hopeless and sad eyes as she stared at him putting his laptop into it's case. Truth was, he didn't have anywhere he had to be but he had to play this game cool. He's actually found something they could bond over and he wasn't about to throw that away over just one date. He was better at this game than to blow it all on his first try. Clary hadn't been too happy with his decision to cut her off after only one episode but at least she had told him "Good bye" and a "See ya". She didn't despise the look of him anymore. That was something at least. After they had parted he hadn't thought about her much. He'd gone home, sat down in front of his computer, bullshitted through some english paper draft that were due the day after and then he had gone to bed. Although it had been when he had placed his head on his pillow, when he allowed himself to think again, that the little red head had appeared in his mind and stuck there. He'd spend far too much time trying to think of what his next move would be. How he would perdue her to like him.

Jace looked back into his room and quickly turned around and headed to the bathroom just to look in the mirror. Knowing exactly what he would find in his reflection but not being quite satisfied with it, he ran a hand through his blonde locks in an attempt to tame it just a little. He found to his frustration that he had been sleeping on one side of this head, making the hair stand up slightly. He ran his hands through it a couple of times but couldn't get it to change direction he wanted it. With a bit of a grunt he turned to search through the shelfs in his bathroom until he found the little black box titled WAX he had been aiming for. A small layer of dust covered the lid from the lack of usage Jace had for it. He had bought it when he was seventeen years old just to try something out. Since then he had stopped caring and it hadn't been used. He opened it and the nostalgic smell of perfumed wax hit him hard and after just seconds of considering it he closed the lid again and threw the small box away, letting it land in a pile of dirty clothes with a thud. He turned back to his mirror and ran his hand through his hair one last time before just letting it be as it was.

Jace had never made himself look good for a girl and he wasn't about to start now. No matter how different Clary Fray was.

With lazy steps he made his way out of his room and down to the kitchen. The Lightwood manor was massive but luckily, Jace's room wasn't far away from the kitchen so it didn't take him long to reach his destination. He walked into the room, surprised to find someone in there; surprised to find his sister in there. Isabelle was sitting by the kitchen island, perfectly put together with make-up and clothes and flipping through some magazine with a latte by her side. Jace had never understood how she willingly put so much energy on not just getting herself ready, but also spending those few extra minutes on making a fancy pansy coffee. He rolled his eyes and walked up to the fridge and grabbed a yoghurt can from it.

"Where is everyone?" He asked whilst placing the yoghurt on the island and proceeded to get the remaining utensils. Isabelle, who hadn't even reacted on him entering the room, didn't look up even as he spoke.

"Iz?" Jace said with a bit of an irritated tone. His sister let out a heavy sigh but still didn't move her gaze from the magazine.

"Max slept over at a friend's last night and Alec had an early work day."

"And Maryse and Robert?"

"Hell if I know." Izzy said with a bitter tone. Out of all the Lightwood children, Isabelle was definitely the one who took Robert and Maryse's professional lifestyle the least lightheartedly. True, the pair was rarely ever home, forcing Izzy, Jace and their big brother Alec to take care of ten year old Max. Alec was one year older than Jace and therefor a graduate. He had chosen not to follow his parents' footsteps through joining them in their work, but instead joined a legal career. Though only being twenty years old, he had already gotten a job at a law firm and was doing great for himself. Max on the other hand was only ten years old and whilst all his older siblings placed great importance in how to be respected and on top, the little boy's greatest worry was whether or not he would afford the new Naruto copy with the slim allowance he got. Not that he ever had a reason to doubt. The Lightwood was a wealthy family and since the parents were rarely home, the kids just kind of took whatever they needed to survive from the family bank account. Then again, Jace and Isabelle's view of surviving was rather different from what their parents had in mind when they opened the account. Whilst Isabelle use most of the money for shopping, Jace did it for partying. Alec was probably the only one in their current household whom anyone could view as a responsible adult. Even though Jace was too an adult by law, no one truly considered him one.

"Alright." Jace muttered and begun eating his breakfast. "Do you need a ride to school today?"

Isabelle slapped the magazine together and looked up at him for the first time with huge eyes and her mouth shaped as an O. "Are you gracing me with the opportunity to not have to walk to school? However so kind of you." She said, her voice filled with heavy sarcasm which made Jace roll his eyes. He shoved another spoon of yoghurt and granola into his mouth.

"It's not as if you ever walk anyways. You have your minions to drive you."

"I have _friends_ who are nice enough to take a detour to help me out. Just because my asshat of a brother refuses to tell me when he's leaving."

Jace scoffed. "Whatever. Do you want a ride or not?" He scoffed and finished off his breakfast. Isabelle gave him a look but jumped down from her chair, ignoring her barely touched latte and just walked out of the kitchen.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Jace called out after her right before exiting the room as well.

It wasn't that Jace particularly minded giving Isabelle a ride in the morning, it was just that he could never be bothered to wait for her to fix her hair or makeup or whatever it was that made her routine take half an hour more than it would a normal person.

Normally their car rides would be rather uneventful. Izzy would mostly just sit with her nose pressed into her iPhone, assumingly typing to her closer friends. Though, today appeared to be themed by surprises as she actually spoke out when they were driving into the carpark of the school.

"So how's our little project going?" She asked, catching Jace off guard by the break of the silence.

"What are you talking about?" He asked even though he knew exactly what was on his sister's mind. For some reason Isabelle seemed to know by his voice that the question he'd just asked was an unnecessary one. Evidently since she sighed heavily but didn't comment on it.

"Clarissa Fray Garroway. The project to get her to fall for you."

"It's going. I haven't gotten her on her back yet but I'm getting there." Just as he said the words he regretted them. Not only because Isabelle gave him a look which would probably make most guys want to surrender their balls to her in a golden jar, but also because it pissed himself off.

"She's not meant to be your whore Jace!" Isabelle bursted out. Her phone was now away from her hands and her entire upper body was facing her brother. "She's supposed to fall for you. You can't treat her like just another screw. It will never make her stay. Clary is a girl who has self respect. She doesn't rely on guys like you to make herself feel good. I hate that I know this but there's a kind of status to sleeping with you. I mean come on, look at Ailene. No one is touching her, no one is catcalling her and ever since you came out with being 'fuckbuddies' she's been one of the most popular girls at Alicante. Most girls would kill for that given the idiotic world we're living in. But Clary wouldn't. You can't keep looking at her as if this will be over the moment she falls asleep after you've taken her innocence." Jace's eyes widened and he quickly turned off the engine before staring at his sister.  
"Innocence? Clary is a virgin?" He couldn't believe it. Or he could. Maybe. Isabelle wrinkled her nose.

"I don't know. I think so. I would assume so. She's not really the sneaking-out-in-the-middle-of-the-night-to-meet-my-boyfriend-in-a-carpark-for-a-quick-screw kind of girl, is she?"

Jace turned back to the steering wheel and clenched his teeth together. "I suppose not." He mumbled. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach he couldn't shake. It was something like… disappointment. Or anger. It wasn't as if he'd given much thought into Clary's virginity but the idea of another guy being with her wasn't something that made him happy exactly. Not that he understood why. The girl can be with whomever she wanted before him, why would he care? As long as Jace won the bet, nothing else were supposed to matter.

"So what are you saying? Would it be better if she was a virgin or would it make this harder." He asked, still not looking at his sister. Advice wasn't really something he often asked for with Isabelle and he definitely didn't give her much space to gloat in this situation.

"I mean… I'd say it makes it harder either way. Say she's never been with a guy, since she's not the kind of girl who gives it up to any douchebag who would give her a boost on the social ladder she won't just give it up to anyone. That means you have to make sure you're really special to her if you want to go that far. You need to really make her trust you so much that she's willing to give you the most precious thing a girl has… at least according to the media." Jace swallowed. Shit this was gonna be tough.

"And if she's not?"

"If she's not.." Isabelle paused, making Jace finally turn his eyes away from the carpark to her. "That means it's even worse."

Jace's eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell slightly agape. "How the fuck can it be worse?"

"Because she wouldn't give it away to just anybody. If she's not a virgin that means she has been with a guy she trusted so much that she allowed him to see her naked. That's kind a huge deal for girls. Like seriously. I'm not really known for being shy but even I was nervous when a guy would see me for the first time. The magazines put ideas into our heads and they stick there for these situations. If Clary has let someone see her in all of her naked glory, that probably means she loved him. She might still love him. And that means that you have to be better than the one she trusted the most." All of a sudden in her serious talk Isabelle smiled widely. "No pressure." Jace let out an unamused laugh but didn't comment on anything she had just said. His mind was a hassle of thoughts he couldn't make sense of. He'd gone into this bet thinking it would be easy. Thinking he wouldn't have to do nothing more than paying hre one or two compliments and she'd be all good to go. He'd realised that wasn't the case the moment he had met her but now hearing this. Hearing that no matter what situation she was in with possible exes just made it so much worse. It was as a wave of realisation washed over him where he realised just exactly what he had gotten himself into. In the middle of the turbulence which was his thoughts, a feeling also struggled to make itself known but Jace kept pushing it down. He shouldn't be jealous. He _couldn't_ be. Whomever Clary had been with didn't matter. He was Jace freaking Herondale. He stood up to any geek who'd wood the readhead in the past. He didn't have any reason to feel tense. None whatsoever.

He barely noticed how Isabelle opened the door at her side and got out of the car. It wasn't until she turned around and peaked her head back into the car that he focused on her again.

"Just please remember, you're not supposed to just sleep with her. One month. That's how long she'll have to want to be with you. 'Getting her on her back' isn't what's gonna make her stay."

"What will make her stay then?" Jace asked

"Trust."

The day seemed to pass in a sluggish paste. Although the moment Jace placed his foot on the field and kicked the ball to his teammate for the first time of the day, he felt better. The uneasy feeling that Isabelle's talk had given him in the car vanished with every second he spend on the grass doing what he was meant to do. After a whole morning training which stretched all the way to one o'clock, Jace went to grab some lunch by himself. The team had been given an hour break before their next lesson and most of the guys were gonna go down to the closest diner to have lunch. Jace wasn't very hungry and the thought of hearing Jordan and Sebastian fight over who made the better goal during attack training just wasn't that appealing. Instead he decided to go to the School café. He told himself it was because he didn't want to sit alone in the lunchroom, but truly there was a stronger reason to why he would go there. And to his sattesfaction, his reasons were met

A smile stretched on his lips as he saw the little red head sit with her back towards him, her head ducked down to something in her lap. Probably a book or her sketchbook if he were to go by her previous occupations. Without uttering a word, he hunched down slightly and snook up behind her. He lowered down so that he was leveled with her head and turned so that his lips were close to her ear.

"You're not cheating on me are you?"

As he had though, Clary jumped in her seat, almost dropping the pen that was in her hand. She turned towards him with big and terrified eyes. Jace could almost see the moment she relaxed and her fear turned to irritation.

"Jace! For gods' sake don't do that!" He laughed and walked around her to sit down next to her.

"What are you drawing?" He asked and stretched his neck a little to look over at her sketch.

"It's nothing." She said shortly and closed her book.

"It looked like that icy dude."

Clary gave him a look. "A white walker? Jace, weren't you the one lecturing me about this stuff."

He shrugged. "I was. But you've seemed to catch up with me. Which brings me back to my first question. You're not cheating on me, are you?" His smile dropped and he looked at her slightly tensed. Clary just stared back at him with a very confused look. It took a lot for Jace not to break him facade and smile at her great, confused emerald eyes.

"If by cheating you mean watching the next episode, then no. I haven't seen anything. I had to google what the Whitewalker you talked about was just so that could draw one." She said, her tone slightly frustrated and it made Jace crack a smile.

"Tough break sweetheart."

"You're such an arsehole." Clary mumbled but Jace could see the smile that threatened to spread on her lips even though she fought to keep it down.

"Don't get the wrong idea here, I'm glad you aren't cheating on me, but why don't you just download the next episode by yourself?"

Clary lowered her head to her sketchbook again and spoke with a very low tone. "I don't know how."

Jace laughed. "Seriously. But that's so easy."  
She looked up at him again with narrowed eyes. "Oh yeah? If it's so easy why don't you just tell me how to do it?"

"And risk you cheating on me? No chance."

"It wouldn't be cheating!" Clary cried out a bit too loud, making three other students who were sitting rather close to the pair turn around and give them a curious look. They probably thought something dramatic was happening between the two but Clary just gave them an apologetic smile and turned back to Jace. "Please. Do you have any idea how it is to fall in love with something but not being able to have it. Please Jace." Clary lowered her feet to the ground and turned so that she was completely facing Jace, their knees almost grazing, not that she seemed to notice. She pouted her lip a little and blinked several times, not quite fluttering her eyelashes as just having a pleading look on her face. The whole scene got Jace caught off guard. Not only was this the first time she had completely acknowledged his existence, she normally just listened to him halfways whilst seeming to have her focus elsewhere, but that look. Damn. Didn't she realise what that look would do to a guy? Especially an eighteen year old who hadn't as much as touched a girl in over a week now. His mind quickly traveled from how she looked, to the fact that the last time he had slept with a girl had been four weeks ago, to the issue Isabelle had spoken to him about earlier that day and suddenly the heavy lump he had started his day with suddenly returned. He tried to get rid of it by clearing his throat but it didn't do much help.

"Oh no. Those doe eyes are not gonna save you today, Clary. No matter how cute they make you look." He said with a smirk on his lips moving himself just a little bit closer to her so that their knees was actually touching. It was a small movement but he hoped it could send the signal. The signal that showed that maybe he wasn't interested in them just being friends. In any other situation he would have already had his hand halfway up the girl's thigh right now but since this was Clary, this miniature move was enough to rock this boat they were wobbling in unsurely. He watched carefully as something changed in her eyes. It was almost as if she had for a second forgotten that it was him she was talking to. As if she had gotten lost in the conversation enough to relax because two seconds after he moved her body tensed up again. A faint red color crept up on her cheeks and she quickly turned towards the table again and hiked her legs up, resuming to the position he had found her in.

"Fine." She muttered and looked down at her sketchbook, suddenly highly interested in what she had had drawn before he had arrived. The lump in Jace's throat grew even bigger as he noticed how his little move had completely backfired. He lowered his eyes for a second, trying to keep from cursing out loud at himself. He should've known it was a bad move. Even if it was just moving close enough so that they touched. He should have known. And now she was sitting there, closed off for him again. This was fucking brilliant.

"By the way." He said after a moment of silence which Clary obviously wasn't planning on breaking. "Are you going to the game tomorrow?"

"The football game?" She asked, still not looking at him but her voice was rather light which made Jace relax slightly.

"Obviously." He said with a slight chuckle. Clary turned towards him only to roll her eyes.  
"Shut up." She said with a bit of a smile, making Jace smile back. "I wasn't planning on it. Why?"

He shrugged and leaned back, away from her. "I don't know. It would be cool if you did. Then I'd have someone to impress when I'm on the field."

"You need someone to impress to play good?"

"No. I always play good. If I feel pressure I'll want to play excellent. And we're just meeting these New Jersey Hawks or something. They're nothing special so we can just beat them with blindfolds on. So you should come. Put some pressure on us."

"And why would me going to the game put any sort of pressure on you?" Clary asked with raised eyebrows." Jace shook his head and leaned back up. He placed his elbows on his knees and lowered his head so that he was looking up towards Clary with narrowed eyes and a smirk on his lips; still careful to keep his distance though.

"Just come to the game." He said simply, ignoring her question on purpose.

Clary looked at him for a second before she met his smirk with a challenging one of her own.

"Fine."

* * *

**AN: I'm really sorry I haven't updated. I've already told you guys why that is. No need for repetitions. Please Review! It makes me really happy getting your comments and feedback! I hope you've all had a nice couple of months. **

**With love - Al **


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